Homemade Pretzel Bites

 

Ingredients: 

2 cups milk

1 1/2 Tbsp yeast

6 Tbsp brown sugar, divided

4 Tbsp melted butter

5 1/2 cups flour

2 tsp salt

1/3 cup baking soda

3 cups warm water

pretzel salt

6 Tbsp melted butter

Warm up the milk in the microwave for 1 1/2 minutes. Add the yeast and 1 Tbsp brown sugar. Stir and let sit for about 5 minutes. 

In the bowl of the stand mixer, combine the 4 Tbsp melted butter, 5 Tbsp brown sugar, and 2 tsp salt. After the yeast has proofed, add that to the brown sugar/butter mixture. Add flour 1 cup at a time. Knead with the hook attachment for 10 minutes. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place in a warm location for about an hour. 

After the dough doubles, punch it down and divide into 12 balls. Preheat the oven to 450 degrees while you complete this step. 

Roll each ball into a rope. Spray two baking sheets with cooking spray and set aside. 

Put the 3 cups of warm water and 1/3 cup of baking soda in a bowl. Cut each rope into pieces that are about 1 1/2 inches each. Dip each piece in the baking soda water and place on the baking sheet. Sprinkle with pretzel salt. (This amount will make two full baking pans.) Bake at 450 for 6-7 minutes. 

Spread the remaining 6 Tbsp of melted butter with a silicone baking brush. 

February Daily Heart Messages Until Valentine's Day

 

Every year I make hearts with different messages for the kids to receive each day of February until Valentine's Day. This year, I searched the internet for memes of inspiration I thought applied to each kid. On the first day, each kid's heart lists 5 things I love about them. The next 12 days, they will receive a meme of inspiration or a quote from one of their favorite athletes/celebrities. On the final day, their heart will have qr codes that link them to videos done by their grandparents and one from me. 

On each sheet of paper below, I traced three hearts. Then I glued the memes to the hearts. I will cut out the three hearts each day and put it on their bedroom wall for them to see when they wake up. 

Cactus-themed Desserts

 

Instant Pot Taco Rice Bowl

 

Ingredients: 

3 Tbsp olive oil

1 lb ground turkey or hamburger

1/2 onion, diced

16 oz salsa

4 oz can green chilies

1 can black beans, drained and rinsed

1/4 cup taco seasoning (or one pack) 

2 cups white rice

2 cups chicken broth

Turn your instant pot to sauté mode. Add the olive oil, onion, and ground turkey. Brown the turkey. Add the taco seasoning, green chilies, black beans, and salsa. (If you want to add corn, you could put a can of that in too.) Stir together. Top that with the rice. Then cover with the chicken broth. 

Do not stir. Turn to high pressure, seal the lid, and cook for 10 minutes. Release the lid when done cooking. Fluff the rice. Add cheese and other taco toppings if desired. You could also serve this with tortilla chips or in a taco shell. 

Healthy Carrot Muffins

 

Ingredients: 

1 1/2 cups whole-wheat flour

1 tsp baking soda

1 tsp cinnamon

1/2 tsp ginger

1/2 tsp salt

1/2 cup Greek yogurt

1/2 cup maple syrup

1 egg

1 tsp vanilla

1 cup unsweetened applesauce

3/4 cup shredded carrot

Preheat your oven to 350 degrees. In a small bowl, whisk the flour, baking soda, cinnamon, ginger, and salt together. In a separate bowl, put the yogurt, egg, maple syrup, and vanilla. Beat that with a mixer. Slowly add in the flour mixture. The batter will be thick. 

Fold in the applesauce and the carrots. 

Place in a cupcake liner and bake for about 22 minutes. 

Dill and Lemon Salmon Foil Dinner

 

Ingredients: 

1 large salmon fillet (about 1 1/2-2 lbs)

salt and pepper

4 Tbsp butter

1 1/2-2 Tbsp garlic

1 Tbsp lemon juice

2-3 tsp fresh dill

Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. Spray a piece of tin foil with cooking spray. Put the salmon on the foil (skin side down) and sprinkle on salt and pepper. In a bowl, melt the butter. Add the garlic and lemon juice. Let cool a little before you put it on the salmon. 

Spread the lemon butter on the on the salmon. Top with the fresh dill. (Leave some remaining to top after cooking.)

Seal the salmon up with the foil. Bake for about 25 minutes. Top with more lemon and dill if desired. 

Happy Meal Employee of the Month Cake

 

Encanto Cardboard Playhouse

We love everything Lin Manuel Miranda does, so I knew Encanto was going to be a favorite at our house. Rachel really wanted the Encanto playhouse set, but...it is $80, so I bought the $20 figurine set and decided to come up with an alternative playset. Plus this project was something we could build together and she could make her own. She wanted to make sure every character had a room, and we decided that adding Bruno's secret hideaway was also very important. Almost everything is made from cardboard boxes and scrapbook paper. I did have a sticky tile left and some cardboard looking contact paper that I also used, but we managed to build this with supplies we had already. 

This is where the tunnel in Bruno's tower leads to. (There is a candle in the window of Abuela's window.)

There is also a hole under the blue flap that goes into the kitchen on the other side. 

This is the box I started out with. I used the contact paper shown to cover all of the "floor" areas of the house. 

I added some other boxes to the top for the third floor. A sticky tile was placed on the courtyard floor to make that a different floor covering. 

I hot glued scrapbook paper to the room dividers. Rachel picked out all of the designs she wanted for each character's room. 

I hot glued the dividers onto the floor and then glued it into place in the box. 

Then I added another box to the back to create Bruno's secret hideaway. 

After all of the rooms were covered...

9th Annual New Year's Eve Family Party

Our 9th Annual New Year's Eve Party is ready. I write activities on a sheet of paper and then cut out each activity. The activity gets placed in a balloon and then I write a time on each balloon. The kids take turns popping the balloons through the night to reveal the next activity.   

The activities: Make a time capsule ornament, make 2022 breadsticks, make gummy bears, visit the Mimosa bar, carry empty suitcases around the house, spa party, play the resolution game, Burn the bad with a campfire, Mentos/Coke experiment, place fake parlay bets on the Michigan game, hang onions on the door and sprinkle salt outside, frozen hot chocolate bar, write thank you cards, make pretzels, sparklers, have fire ice cream, make lava lamp fireworks, one word painting, play board game, visit the concession stand, photo booth, complete New Year's questions, play the glow toss game, streamer ball gift, do an auction from the parlay bets. 

The table is set for all of our snacking and eating. 

I bought this Times Square Backdrop years ago and just reuse it every year for our photo backdrop. 

The balloon drop is a favorite at midnight. 

This is the link to last year's activities: 

http://workingmomwonders.blogspot.com/2020/12/8th-annual-new-years-eve-family-party.html

Carlsie (Dundie) Awards

We held our second annual "Carlsie Awards" tonight. We were going to go to Chili's to do the awards, but Rachel thought that would be too embarrassing. So...we ordered pizza and I made a pan of Chili's Texas Cheese Fries and a Skillet Cookie to make it seem more authentic. Rachel has been the host both years, so she picks the categories and gives out the awards. This year she made certificates to give to each family member along with their trophy. The categories were: Snacker Award, Education Award, Best Collector Award, Little Improvement Award, Busiest Beaver Award, Binge Watcher Award, Leave Your Laundry Out Award, Neatest Award, Neatest Closet Award, Moving On Up Award, Best Decorations, and Promising Assistant Manager. 

Below are pictures from our first annual Carlsie Awards.

Snowflake Cinnamon Roll with Caramel Sauce

 After looking for Christmas pastry ideas, I came across this snowflake monkey bread: https://www.halfbakedharvest.com/snowflake-pull-apart-monkey-bread/

It was a lot easier to make than it looks and is delicious. 

Ingredients: 

1 cup milk

1 Tbsp yeast

1 Tbsp honey

2 eggs, beaten

4 Tbsp melted butter

3 1/2 cups flour

1/2 tsp salt

1 beaten egg for brushing dough before baking

Filling: 

6 Tbsp softened butter

3/4 brown sugar

1 1/2 tsp cinnamon

Caramel Glaze:

1/2 cup dark brown sugar

1/2 cup heavy whipping cream

6 Tbsp butter

2 tsp vanilla

Start by warming the 1 cup of milk in the microwave for about 45 seconds. Add that and the 1 Tbsp of yeast to the bowl of your stand mixer. Add in the 1 Tbsp honey and stir. Let that sit for 2-3 minutes. Add the salt, beaten eggs, and melted butter. Stir that together with a wooden spoon. Add in the 3 1/2 cups of flour. Stir again with the wooden spoon and then attach your hook attachment. Let that mix for about 5 minutes. Place the dough in a greased bowl and let rise for about an hour, or until doubled. 

Punch the dough down and divide into four balls. Roll one of the balls into a a 10-12 inch circle. Place it on a parchment lined baking pan. (It should be a pan that has at least a small side to it.)

In a bowl, mix the filling: 6 Tbsp softened butter, 3/4 cups brown sugar, and 1 1/2 tsp cinnamon. This will make a paste. Divide the paste into thirds. Spread 1/3 of the paste on the first dough circle. Then roll out the next dough ball, place that on top of the paste, and then add 1/3 of the paste to the top of the second circle. Repeat with the remaining dough and paste. 

Next, I found a circle cutter that was about 2 inches in diameter. I placed that in the center of the dough. I cut the dough into fourths first. Then cut each fourth into four more triangles. You should have 16 triangles when you are done.

Take two of the triangles. Twist them away from each other for about 2 turns. Then seal the dough together at the end. Let that rise for about 20-30 minutes. Then brush with a beaten egg.

Cook at 375 for 15 minutes. Pull out the pastry, spoon and filling that is coming out of the dough back on top of the dough. Bake for another 15 minutes. 

While that is baking, make the caramel sauce. In a small saucepan, stir together the 6 Tbsp butter, 1/2 cup dark brown sugar, and 1/2 cup whipping cream. Let that bowl for about 3-4 minutes. It will thicken slightly. Remove from the heat, add the vanilla. It will thicken even more after letting it rest for about 15 minutes. 

Spread the caramel sauce on top of the baked pastry and top with powdered sugar if desired.